USS KETE SS 369

USS KETE SS 369 Balao Class

March 20, 1945. Sunk by unknown causes. 87 men lost.

From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Kete
A species of North Pacific salmon also called "chum" or "dog salmon" (Oncorhynchus keta).

(SS-369: dp. 1,526 (surf.), 2,424 (subm.); l. 311'9"; b. 27'3"; dr. 15'3"; s. 20 k. (surf.), 9 k. (subm.); cpl. 66; a. 1 5", 1 40mm., 1 20mm., 10 21" tt.; cl. Balao)

Kete left Guam on March 1, 1945, for her second and final war patrol in the waters surrounding the Nansei Shoto Chain. She performed lifeguard duty and gathered weather data for the pending invasion of Okinawa. While patrolling west of Tokara Retto on the night of March 9-10, she torpedoed and sank three marus totaling 6,881 tons. During the night of March 14, she attacked but did not sink a cable-laying ship. On March 19, Kete acknowleged orders to depart the area, refuel at Midway, and proceed to Pearl Harbor for refit. On March 20, she sent a weather report from a position south of Colnett Strait. Scheduled to arrive at Midway by March 31, she was neither seen nor heard from again. On April 16, she was reported as presumed lost.

Circumstances surrounding her loss remain a mystery. Possible causes for her loss could have been an operational malfunction, a mine explosion, or enemy action.

Kete received one battle star for World War II service.